By Pete Townsend, Managing Director, Techstars Web3

It feels different this time.

We're now well into the next bull run in crypto, but the experience of having lived through the last four cycles puts my mindset firmly in the category of 'restrained optimism' for the long-term growth of the decentralized internet, rather than wild speculation.

Fred Ehrsam, one of the original Coinbase co-founders and now co-founder and general partner at Paradigm, shared some insights with Paradigm's portfolio companies during the last bull run in 2021, and this part jumped out at me as uniquely timeless:

"When things are good, they're never as good as they seem; when things are bad, they're never as bad as they seem. I do not know how the current cycle will play out, or even that it is a cycle at all. I do know that every past cycle has left crypto stronger than where it started. Times when things feel like they are going well are the times to build resiliency and set yourself up for success no matter what the future holds. I hope you embrace that opportunity." Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm

We're certainly embracing this opportunity with the Techstars Web3 Class of 2024, which we largely built before this bull run was in full swing. The timing could not be better for these founders to be connecting with mentors, executing fast and fundraising. We've invested up to $120,000 into each of the 12 companies, and we're now on a mission to help them find their path to product-market fit. To quote Hugh Mc Girr, our Techstars Web3 Investment Principal:

"Find your product market-fit, and the money will follow." Hugh Mc Girr, Techstars

Putting your head down and building for users, focusing on the fundamentals and building for the long term is the space we play in. We sought out founders who signaled that they were prepared to build for the long term, and we looked at over 600 teams to find our top 12. 

This year, we're thrilled to have the support of the team behind Aleph Zero as a Techstars Web3 Innovation Member. Aleph Zero is a layer 1 blockchain that enables teams to deploy scalable, secure, low-cost, and ZK privacy-enhanced products across multiple verticals—from DeFi and gaming to enterprise. They're contributing some amazing technical and commercial expertise to our web3 mentor group, and our founders are excited about working with them.

Antoni Zolciak, Co-Founder of Aleph Zero, stated: "At Aleph Zero, we're thrilled to collaborate with Techstars and contribute to the success of the Web3 Accelerator's class of 2024. With Techstars' proven track record in supporting founders and innovative projects, we aim to empower these entrepreneurs by sharing our expertise in blockchain and privacy-enhancing technologies. Our goal is to equip them with the necessary tools to develop groundbreaking Web3 projects that meet the evolving expectations of users, who demand features comparable to Web2 and beyond. We firmly believe that practical, real-world innovations will shape the future of the internet, and we're excited to help the class of 2024 bring their ideas to life."

In a perfect setting for initiating relationships, we kicked off week one in Dublin on 11th March, with the benefit of inviting locally based mentors to engage the group during a special day of in-person Mentor Madness office hours. We've built a deep pool of mentors over the past three years, and this year, we're focusing on three core mentor profiles: web3 product builders, web3 user growth and partnership experts, and those with strong web3 fundraising chops.

While the program is largely online, we will be taking the show on the road twice more! We’ll descend on London in April (22nd-26th) and New York City in the first week of June (3rd-6th). If you would like to connect in either city, we would love to hear from you.

Meet the companies! 

Artizen - Match-funding platform for breakthroughs in human creativity. 

Founder locations:  USA / UK

The Colony -  Shaping the future of collectibles through blockchain technology.

Founder locations: USA / Canada 

Ember AI - AI DeFi companion that understands what you want and helps you do it securely, without new apps or hardware.

Founder locations: USA / Colombia  

FairAI - Fueling democratized open-source AI through a decentralized marketplace with digital property rights. 

Founder locations:  Portugal / USA

FileMarket - Multichain data tokenization protocol for storage and P2P digital goods trading.

Founder location: Hong Kong 

GenoBank - Ensuring the privacy and data ownership of your genetic information.

Founder location: USA

Lantern Finance - Custodial staking and lending services for the everyday investor.

Founder location: USA 

Millicent -  The open smart contract platform for compliant real-world DeFi.

Founder locations:  UK / USA

PawPass - Digital identification for animals.

Founder location: UK

ProofSpace - No-code platform for reusable identity. 

Founder location:  UK

SportsyncTech - Empowering amateur sports organizations and athletes with innovative, data-driven solutions.

Founder locations:  France / USA 

Savvy - Interest-free lending protocol with overcollateralized deposits and self repaying loans.

Founder location:  USA

Also, you can listen to each founder introduce themselves on a special episode of the MoneyNeverSleeps podcast that I produce.

If you’d like to learn more about the Techstars Web3 class of 2023, please get in touch with me at pete.townsend@techstars.com or with Hugh Mc Girr at hugh.mcgirr@techstars.com.

About Techstars: Techstars is the most active pre-seed investor in the world having invested through its accelerators in more than 4,000 companies. Founded in 2006, Techstars believes that entrepreneurs create a better future for everyone and great ideas can come from anywhere. Now we are on a mission to invest in an unprecedented number of startups per year enabling more capital to flow to more entrepreneurs around the world. We do this by operating accelerator programs and venture capital funds, as well as by connecting startups, investors, corporations, and cities to help build thriving startup communities. www.techstars.com

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